Sunday, October 13, 2013

Croquettes - A Tall Family Recipe

TIME - don't try to make these when you get home from work and dinner's in an hour. Or on Sunday, between church and family lunch. It just won't happen.

4 spoonfuls of olive oil (Spain doesn't really do exact measurements, so if you can't cook without your measuring cups, I suggest a nice Spanish red before you begin)

about a quarter cup flour, or whatever it takes to make an oil-based béchamel sauce

around a 1/4 litre whole milk

nutmeg

salt

around 350g chopped Serrano ham (the classic ingredient but not my personal favourite), or any other cooked meat, fish or seafood, boiled egg, or even cheese or vegetables (I suggest spinach or mushrooms). Really, you can use anything you like as long as it's cooked and not liquidy.

an egg or two, beaten in a bowl

a plateful of breadcrumbs or flour for dredging

a glass baking dish (a square brownie pan should do it for this amount)

a large pan

plenty of olive oil in a deep pan for frying (or, better yet, a deep fryer!)

First, heat the oil in a large pan over low heat. Stir in the flour and let it cook a bit, then whisk in the milk. Stir until the sauce thickens (you may need to add more flour or milk, depending on the consistency). Add a dash of nutmeg, and a pinch of salt to flavour, then turn off the heat. Pour the mixture into the glass baking dish and let cool until solid. We do this part (well, Tall Guy does it - I watch) in the morning, and pop it in the fridge until the afternoon or evening.Once solid, cut the mixture into slices a couple inches long. I guess you could also scoop it out and make little balls, or cones, or whatever shape you want. Dip into the egg mixture and dredge in the breadcrumbs or flour. You now how one croquette ready for freezing or frying, congratulations! Now repeat until you finish your baking dish. I also watch Tall Guy do this part. Too fiddly for me Er, it's more authentic when a Spanish person does it...Now you can freeze them (use parchment to separate them, unless you want to fry an entire croquette mass when you take them out of the freezer), or fry them. To fry, heat the olive oil in the deep pan, or turn on your deep fryer. Once hot, add the croquettes a few at a time and fry until golden, about three minutes, a little longer from frozen.Drain them on a paper towel (pan version) or in the deep fryer-basket, and serve hot or room temperature (I don't like them cold, but maybe you will...anything goes - either way, eat them that day).And there you have it - an authentic Spanish croqueta recipe from start to finish. All you need now is a Tall Guy to make it for you...

1 comment:

I made croquettas last week! Found a recipe very much like the one you gave above, and we ate half of the batch and froze the rest. It helped to know how they should look and taste (if made by a Spanish person.)

the tall girl

Hello, and welcome to my blog!
This blog started as a travelog to share my summer travel adventures with friends and family. I continued writing from Wiesbaden, Germany, and London, England. Now I live in Madrid, Spain, and the adventure continues!
I'm an all-Canadian Tall Girl whose hobbies include travelling,reading and writing, cooking, dancing, and making things.
I am passionate about languages, healthy living, and the Arts.